130 Year Old Practice to Close at Short Notice
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- Published: Tuesday, 25 February 2025 18:02
- Written by Peter Ingle
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A popular dental practice established in Tunbridge Wells in 1895 is to be closed at short notice, and the site will be redeveloped for housing. Patients and staff of Bupa owned Hill House Dental Care have reportedly been “left stunned” by the “out of the blue” decision.
The practice has a prime location in the heart of the town centre.
According to Kent Live the application for change of use had been lodged in January 2024 though it appears staff and patients were unaware of the potential effect upon the practice. That was until recently, when patients received letters informing them that the practice would close on April 17th.
A dentist at the practice had said there were 15,000 regular patients, with tens of thousands more archived. However, Bupa denied this figure, saying it was 5,000. The dentist had also said that some of the staff had worked there for a long time, with one member having been there for 22 years.
Around 16 people work at Hill House. One 100-year-old patient has been going there since he was 17. Although mainly a private practice, there was a small NHS contract. According to the dentist, they had been led to believe a new home would be found and "that everything is going to be fine," only to find out after Christmas that was not going to happen. Patients were informed by letter, later. “We feel that we have been let down. We always felt pride. We are a popular practice, people like us. We take care of all our patients. We have been here a long time, people know us," the dentist added.
A spokesperson for Bupa responded to Kent Live and said that they had taken the difficult decision to close the practice and had been working to explore ways for patients to continue to receive care elsewhere. Patients had been given information about the closure, and Bupa was "working closely with our valued colleagues to support them through this process".
In response to the claims of the dentist, among them that the company knew two years ago about the redevelopment of the site, Bupa said that it was served notice on the property in May 2024, and that it tried unsuccessfully to extend the tenancy. It had told the team "as soon as we were able” and all the staff had been offered roles within Bupa.
Where possible, it would continue to provide care at its practice at St John’s Road in Tunbridge Wells. The Bupa website shows Hill House as one of their premium ‘Platinum practices’ but states that is not currently accepting new patients. The St John’s Road site is 2.5 kilometres away from Hill House’s very central location, and does not have platinum status.
Patient Mike Vos, said that the closure letter had come "out of the blue". He added, "BUPA have known about the date of expiry of their lease of the current premises for at least a year and should have relocated this long standing dental practice in the heart of Tunbridge Wells to other premises. There is no shortage of a suitable alternative."
"Closing down on just three months’ notice for families who have been patients for often more than two generations when there is such a universal need for dental practices seems to be a bizarre decision. The adverse effect on patients, often whole families, no longer being able to access their regular dentist in whom they have built up trust over many years is significant.”
Another comment expressed scepticism that any of the local practices would have the capacity to be able to accommodate the “ousted patients.”
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